Sen. Mark Begich has to feel hopeful about his chances with just a week to go until Nov. 4, according to an influential polling analyst.
The Alaska Democrat has been facing a tough re-election fight from his Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan, but the latest polls suggest the seat has a chance of remaining blue.
Even if he does not have a huge lead at the moment, Begich is within striking distance of a victory, according to Nate Cohn of the New York Times’ The Upshot blog.
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Hellenthal and Associates, a Republican-leaning Alaska-based firm, showed Begich ahead by 10 points in a poll released Friday. Sullivan was nursing a 4.5 lead in the last Hellenthal poll, released in mid-September.
On Monday night, Ivan Moore Research showed Begich leading Sullivan by seven points among fairly likely voters and eight points among the most likely voters.
On the flip side, the Upshot’s Senate forecast gives Sullivan a 71 percent chance of winning.
A RealClearPolitics average of polls has Sullivan leading Begich by 4.2 points.
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